Members of a Baylor University commission charged with recommending ways to address the institution’s historic ties to slavery and the Confederacy often were distressed as they studied the racist beliefs and actions of the university’s founders. Read full piece
As a commission created to examine Baylor University’s history examined some of its early leaders’ views on race, participants wrestled with “painful information” about the school’s founders. Read full piece
In the decades surrounding Baylor University’s founding, Texas Baptists reflected the prevailing culture — including support for slavery, three historians agreed during an online forum sponsored by the university. Read full piece
Baylor University will create an endowed faculty position for the study of Black worship, with a gift from the Prichard Family Foundation and Ella Wall Prichard of Corpus Christi, Texas. Read full piece
A months-long battle for ultimate control of the Southern Baptist Convention’s agencies and institutions came to light Feb. 21 when a trove of attorney communications exposed a rift between officers of the SBC Executive Committee and leaders of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Read full piece
Baylor University’s board of regents “accepted” a final report of its Commission on Historic Campus Representations Feb. 19 but will not release the findings to the public until the end of March. Read full piece
Two Texas Baptist schools have regained control over a Texas foundation established by a long-time benefactor. The two schools filed suit in September, alleging trustees of the Texas-based Harold E. Riley Foundation were part of a “coup” to divert support away from the schools.
In some cases, the denominational bodies control 100% of a university’s trustee nominations while providing a minute fraction of the annual revenue. Read full piece
Two Baptist schools in Texas have sued a charitable foundation they say is trying to misuse millions of dollars in assets. Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary filed suit Tuesday (Sept. 8) against the Texas-based Harold E. Riley Foundation and its board of trustees.
Beth Allison Barr, associate dean in the Baylor Graduate School, writes about a cemetery in Waco, Texas, and the (mis)treatment of Black burials spots compared to White ones like Confederate soldiers. Read full piece